Kentucky vs. UConn matchup was about "athlete-students"

April 8, 2014|Mike Bianchi, SPORTS COMMENTARY

ARLINGTON, Texas – On the day before the national championship game, NCAA President Mark Emmert and some other intercollegiate athletic muckety-mucks held a news conference in which the term “student-athlete” was used exactly 45 times.

They talked ad nauseum about graduation rates, the importance of getting a degree and the value of a college education for all of the fine “student-athletes” out there. The most amazing part of all: They actually did all of this without rolling their eyes and playfully elbowing each other in the ribs.

And after their news conference was all over, they dutifully stepped down and turned over the dais to the two teams who played for the national championship Monday night: The Kentucky Wildcats, whose freshman starting lineup may all jump to the NBA after two semesters in college, and the UConn Huskies, whose graduation rates have been so bad in the past that the Huskies were banned from the NCAA Tournament last season.

In the end, you could say the lesser of two evils won Monday night as UConn’s junior- and senior-laden lineup beat Kentucky coach John Calipari’s latest crop of one-and-done freshmen with a 60-54 victory. If nothing else, this was a win that stopped the controversial Calipari’s methodical march to college basketball dominance.

UConn used the same formula to win this game as they used to beat No. 1-ranked Florida in the national semifinal on Saturday. The Huskies’ guards -- Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatwright – combined for 36 points and outplayed their counterparts – freshmen twins Aaron and Andrew Harrison – to propel their team to a national championship only a year after being excluded from the tournament.

A bold Napier grabbed a microphone after the game and told the crowd, "You're looking at the hungry Huskies. This is what happens when you ban us."

Yes, this was one shining moment for UConn. Unless, of course, you check out the school’s APR (Academic Progress Rate) over the last few seasons.

Seriously, can we now officially stop with this charade of calling big-time college basketball players “student-athletes” – which just might be the biggest oxymoron since “federal budget”? Why not just call the participants on the floor during Monday night’s national title game what they truly are – “athlete-students” who are in college only because they are really good at dribbling and dunking basketballs?

Believe me, if you do this, the games themselves become much more enjoyable. If you accept college basketball for what it is – a feeder system and a stopping-off point for elite athletes whose ultimate goal is getting to the NBA – it becomes a much more palatable product.

Just ask iconic former Huskies coach Jim Calhoun who used this philosophy to build UConn from nothing into the elite program that new coach Kevin Ollie inherited before last season. UConn now has four national championships in the past 15 years, and nobody else even has three in that same span.

It’s also this philosophy that has propelled Calipari to three Final Fours in the past four years and had him playing for his second national title in three seasons on Monday night. Calipari’s recruiting pitch is pretty simple: Come to Kentucky, where you won’t get your MBA but you will go to the NBA!

And you know what? That was just fine with the 79,238 fans who packed into Jerry Jones’ football stadium Monday night to watch the national basketball championship game. And it was also acceptable to the millions and millions more who watched on national TV.

Do you think these fans really care about the graduation rates at Kentucky and UConn? Do you think they really care that many of the players on the court last night were likely majoring in “staying eligible”? And in those matchup boxes in newspapers and sports web sites, do you think they really care that there was no category listed or edge given for “Team GPA”?

Oh sure, Calipari and his ilk use the perfunctory educational jargon to dress up their NBA factories in scholarly clothes, but everybody knows the real truth. Two years ago, when Kentucky had five players chosen in the first round of the NBA draft, Calipari went on ESPN and called it the greatest day in the history of Kentucky basketball. What’s it tell you when a college coach says sending a bunch of freshmen to the NBA is even bigger than the eight national championships the storied Kentucky program has won in its proud history?

Well, the Huskies made sure there would not be a ninth national title for the ’Cats on Monday night.So let’s hear a good ol’ college cheer for the “student-athletes” of UConn.

“Two bits, four bits, six bits, elation!“We’re national champs only a year after probation!”

mbianchi@tribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @BianchiWrites. Listen to his radio show every weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. on 740 AM.